bubbles from gravity fed refugium...Help!!

[jammoye2]

I just installed a 20 gallon fuge with live rock rubble and chaeto on a stand 5" higher than my display tank. The idea is to gravity feed the display tank from the fuge with plankton, pods, etc. The fuge is being fed by a mag 7 from my sump and the outflow to the display tank from the fuge is via 1" flexible tubing. The flow is good but the problem is that I have too many bubbles produced in the display tank. I am not a whiz with plumbing so I am posting here. Does anyone have a solution?:(

[Blown 346]

How many inches below the main tanks water level is the return line from the fuge?
The outlet might be too big, If it is easy to swap to 3/4 of an inch plumbing for the return I would, unless you have alot of flow going thru it.

Also, is the drain under the waterlevel in the fuge? If so use a 90 degree piece of PVC and have it face upwards so the water from te fuge will drain or skim over that and into the drain.

[jammoye2]

Thanks,
I was thinking about trying a smaller diameter since the water flow does not fill up the diameter of the 1" tube. I do already have the PVC pipe installed as you suggested.

[LFS_worker]

at my work we tried everything to get this to stop including sponges on the outlet!

we finally had to slow the pump down into the fuge and add a powerhead for flow. then where the drain enters the tank make it into a "J" so the flow was gentile into the tank.

good luck Ill be watching this post to see if anyone has a better idea. smaller diameter tubing did not work for us.

Brian

[moumda]

A friend of mine did this and he also had problems with micro bubbles. After the system had run for a couple of weeks the bubbles disappeared. He used 1" flexible pvc tubing for the return. Hope this happens for you:).

[jammoye2]

thanks for your well wishes. for the moment i just redirected the return back into the sump which sort of defeats my objective: feed the tank directly with plankton, pods etc from the fuge. It did eliminate the bubble issue though. I wonder if the mag 7 is too powerful to deliver the water into the fuge. I also have a weaker Catilina 1800 that may be a better solution.

[Abysswater]

make a bubble box where your water is being dumped.
and put some LR rubble in there to control bubble flow.

See pic

[graveyardworm]

I've been dealing with the same problem and havent quite got it licked yet, I've been able to eliminate all but the smallest bubbles, here are some pics.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/586/44187100_1363.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/586/44187100_1364.jpg

Next I'm going to extend the pipe in the tank down to the sand bed with a 90 and possibly the restrictive cap if needed.

Abyss, the bubble trap is in the left back corner?

[stugray]

The Mag 7 seems a bit excessive for the Fuge.

Also, try to get the inlet side ( in the fuge ) as close to the bottom as you can without sucking any substrate. that way you will suck more critters. Just be careful to have a siphon break near the surface in case the PH stops pumping up to the fuge.

I have built two above tank fuges ( pics of plumbing for my mangrove sump -35 Gal hex is in my gallery ).

Whenever I build an above tank fuge, I have one siphon driven return ( small diameter low in the fuge ), and one overflow ( large Diameter at the surface ) just in case the siphon gets clogged.

If you do it perfect, you can get most of the outflow to go out the siphon, and a small amount to go out through the overflow. This keeps the surface from getting slimy.

Stu

[jammoye2]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I am going to try the Catalina instead of the Mag 7 next to see if that helps. I am also thinking about putting in a union valve to restrict the gravity fed flow back into the tank.

[graveyardworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6644346#post6644346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jammoye2
I am also thinking about putting in a union valve to restrict the gravity fed flow back into the tank.


I wouldnt restrict the flow out of the tank kinda like playing with fire except you'll be getting wet instead of burned. Restrict the water in instead.